Odysseus is undeniably one of the most intelligent mortals throughout Greek mythology, famed for devising the plan that brought down the city of Troy – the Trojan horse. However, his exploits made him unfavourable with many of the Gods, especially Poseidon, whose son, Polyphemus, had been blinded by the hero. Following the ten-year war, Odysseus spent yet another ten years to finally return back home to Ithaca, a trip that contained many obstacles, including his descent into the Underworld, in order to discover his fate.
Odysseus’ trip to Hades is one of the most dangerous of his tasks, which, upon failure, could have left him stranded in Tartarus for eternity. Prophecies were important to the Ancient Greeks, having been channelled by the Gods through prophets, and so Odysseus’ trip to the Underworld to receive a prophecy by the deceased seer Teiresias was vital to his return to Ithaca alive. Odysseus’ trip is described as a ‘katábasis’ – a heroic journey to the Underworld, done by a brave mortal. His resilience is mirrored as Odysseus chooses to talk to the prophet before meeting his mother, having been unaware of her passing, and he is warned against losing command of his men, something he is severely punished for later in the Epic.
Throughout Book XI of the Odyssey, the Underworld is shown to be hellish and miserable, the hero’s mother describing Hades as a ‘murky realm’. He is reminded of his isolation, a feeling the Underworld heightens, as he attempts, and fails, to embrace his mother three times, her body simply slipping through his fingers. Further on in Odysseus’ journey, he also meets Heracles, a fellow hero like Odysseus, who had angered the Gods, and who warns him against meeting a fate like his, condemned to Tartarus for eternity.
Odysseus’ journey through the Underworld is cynical, and it helps him to realise that there is no reward for being a hero, the great Heracles reduced to a rotting corpse. This affects his actions later as he encounters the dreaded sea monsters Scylla and Charybdis, and he chooses to sacrifice his men instead of risk drowning. In order to enter Hades, Odysseus was forced to sacrifice sheep, a violent action that mirrors the suffering the hero endures, with the sole purpose of returning to his wife in Ithaca - a joy quickly extinguished as he encountered the many suitors that had arrived to replace him. The Odyssey highlights the inevitability of death and serves as a warning to the Ancient Greeks to fear going against the will of the divine, as mortals are nothing more than a pawn to the Gods.
Lily
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